Mexican Hard Cider

/ / Business, Food & Flavor

An Oregon cidery is taking an interesting approach to hard cider, ciders inspired by aguas frescas.

La Familia Cider Company founder José Gonzales is a first-generation Mexican-American. He runs La Familia Cider Company with his wife, Shani, and their kids Jay Jay and Jezzelle. José and Shani grew up drinking aguas frescas, but couldn’t find those drinks in Oregon.

“As my wife and I were enjoying Oregon craft beer and cider, she said, ‘Too bad there aren’t any of the flavors we grew up with,” José said. So they developed their own brand with flavors reflecting their heritage.

Their ciders are from freshly-picked, northwest-grown apples, but the flavors reflect the family’s Mexican heritage. Mainstay flavors include Manzana, Tamarindo and Hibiscus. 

“With our ciders we wanted to do something a little bit different,” explained Jay Jay. “Change up the game a little bit.”

Today, the Salem, Ore.-based brand is in more than 50 stores in Oregon and Washington.

Read more (KGW8)